Dressed in all black, streaks of gold paint on her cheeks, Hajar Sattarzadeh (10) jumps in the stands of a pep rally. Tiffany Nguyen (10) kneels next to an elementary schooler at a robotics workshop, gesturing to a mistyped piece of code. Pauline Kravtsova (10) pretends to sleep in her Duo Interpretation speech as her partner narrates above her. Carly Isleta (12) circles up with the theater company as another senior tells a funny story before their performance.

Each of these students takes part in a different school activity. Spirit takes a myriad of different forms across our campus. Nesting in everything from pep rallies to robotics, it manifests in students simultaneously pursuing what they love and immersing themselves in aspects of Westview.

For Sattarzadeh, spirit means being active in school events and representing the school, showing pride for the school through it.

“I try to always participate in as many things as I can,” she said. “Whenever I see that there’s an event going on, I try to go and support. I always look at the spirit weeks, and if I can do a day, I do it, because why not? It’s fun to dress up for these things, and rallies and school events help bring away the stress from academics and create a more relaxed and fun environment that helps uplift the moods of people. It adds to the high school experience. High school isn’t just about grades, but [also] the friends that you make and the experiences that you can share, and school spirit brings a lot of those stories.”

While Sattarzadeh shows up for school events, Nguyen said she finds spirit through robotics, particularly at competitions.

“When the team is starting to drive the robot, they announce, ‘Option 16!’” Nguyen said. “Every other member in the team is in the stands, and then it’s really fun because every single team just cheers. It feels nice, because in a stressful situation, hearing your team cheer for you is really helpful to ease the stress.”

She shares that spirit through Option 16’s outreach program, where she teaches younger students about engineering, and through robotics, she said she grows enthusiasm for Westview as a whole as well through representing it.

“We reach out to younger generations so that they’ll be involved,” she said. “Because we have a lot of engineering classes, if they have a passion for STEM, they could also incorporate that into Westview. [In that way,] robotics helps build Westview pride. Robotics opened my brain and opportunities to different aspects of STEM that I could explore, and that opened my scope to try out new things as a high-schooler. I enjoy Westview mostly for the STEM activities.”

For Kravtsova, Speech and Debate helped her gain pride in Westview.

“In speech, we get to share speeches that we worked on with other people,” she said. “It’s a way to make bonds, and it helps show this school spirit, since Westview is a very diverse and open place where it’s valued to have strong friendships and connections with other people.”

Performing a Duo Interpretation speech on the movie “Stranger than Fiction,” through which she expresses the importance of living life with joy in spontaneity, Kravtsova said that she found passion in expressing her thoughts on problems faced by people across the world. Not only could she do this at competitions, but she could also discuss her views with her fellow members.

“Spirit in speech is trying to [give our thoughts] about issues,” she said. “There are a lot of speech events where we talk about our own opinions on things. In speech, we can share our ideas and allow them to reach a wider audience. Outside of a competitive setting, we perform our speeches for each other, and we get to see how other people share their opinions. [It gives us] a lot of team bonding and this idea of being one unit together.”

In theatre, Isleta said she has formed similar bonds. Before performances, Isleta said that the theater company comes together in a tradition called Feel So Good, where a senior tells a funny story, then they go around and each say something they are excited about.

“One way spirit has developed over the years is through our traditions,” she said. “We have a tradition called Feel So Good to release all the negative energy of whatever stressful day you might have had, as a reminder to have fun, be yourself, and just go full at it. When we say something that we’re excited for, I think that brings a bunch of spirit. For example, if it’s Friday, someone would just say, ‘Friday!’ and then we’d all go ‘Yippee!’ and clap. I think implementing those traditions is a great way to not just build camaraderie, but to engage each individual with the spirit of the show to just have fun and perform or run the tech or whatnot.”

Isleta said that although theater isn’t typically viewed as a source of school spirit, it still helps those in theater and those who support the company to be proud Westview.

“We all want to be a part of some sort of community,” she said. “[Theater] is a really large and beautiful community, and for me, building that community not only helps individuals make friendships with one another, but it helps the school campus and overall spirit. [When people think of school spirit,] I think most people may overlook theater, but when people come to our shows to support their friends and fellow students who are in theater, it does show school spirit, because you’re not just supporting the students, you’re supporting Westview Theatre, and you’re supporting the school. Westview Theatre can bring a bunch of spirit that individuals may not know they have. Building more spirit towards Westview Theater helps build spirit towards Westview.”